Terry is a clever mouse. He belongs to the Jerboa* family of mice. He does not believe in hiding from enemies. As a matter of fact, he does not like running away from them either. But the place in which his colony lives, is under attack almost all the time.
Terry wants to stand bravely and face the enemy. Well that does happen many a time…no, not in reality, but in his dreams. In reality, there is not much he can do, but run when an owl is out to get him no matter what.
One night, Terry does not get much sleep thinking about how he can face his enemy bravely and make sure they never treat him as another food item. He tosses and turns for a while. Then he decides to go out for a walk.
Just when he sets foot on the desert grass, he hears some hooting! He knows he needs to get away as fast as he can without looking behind. He runs for a while, and then he stops and turns around. He is panting, but stands upright and faces his enemy. It is the same owl! The one who terrifies his colony. The owl is puzzled as he has never seen his prey turn back and stare at him. He screeches to a halt.
Not a word is spoken, but Terry looks into the owl’s eye. The owl toys with the idea of simply grabbing his prey, but he is used to chasing his prey and then making a meal of it. This is strange. There is silence. Terry and the owl don’t know what to do. The owl moves a little. Terry raises his hand and signals him to stop! The owl is puzzled and stops. Terry simply stares at him. The owl tries to grab him, but Terry does a quick turn and disappears into the grass.
The owl looks around, but cannot see Terry anywhere. Terry watches as the owl flies away through the gaps in the thick blanket of grass he has chosen to hide in. A few minutes later, he slowly climbs out of his hiding place.
Too soon to cheer
Other mice have also come out of their hiding places after hearing the noises. Someone starts to clap. Soon, there is loud applause. But, all that noise catches the owl’s attention. He sits on a tree watching the mice celebrate. He becomes angry. He swoops down without any warning. The mice scurry away. There is a lot of confusion.
Terry knows that his previous trick will not help save his friends. He runs towards the owl. The owl spots him and flies down to reach him. Terry leads him to a large sand pit. In the sand pit, Terry digs fast and hard with his hind legs. Sand flies in the air. Soon, the other mice join in and do the same thing, sending sand flying in different directions.
The owl is now covered in sand. His eyes burn and his mouth tastes of sand. He spits it out and asks the mice, “Do you really need to do that?”
Terry stands up bravely and says, “Yes we do. Otherwise you will eat us.”
The owl looks at him thoughtfully. “Yes! Apparently, we eat mice. Law of nature.”
Terry says, “I understand. But we don’t want you to eat us.”
The owl thinks about it for a while. He says, “I can’t eat brave mice like you. I am honoured to have met you.”
The owl then takes off into the night sky. The other mice hug him and thank him for saving them. A drop of rain falls on his fur. He feels the pinch of cold water. He runs back to his little hole for shelter. He falls asleep right away. There is no worry to keep him awake now. He is a brave mouse.
Jerboas are desert rodents. They can jump several feet both vertically and horizontally. They move in zigzag patterns which comes in handy when predators are out to get them. They have tufts of coarse, bristly hair under the soles and toes of the hind feet. These act like snowshoes, keeping the animals from sinking into or slipping on loose sand. The tufts also help jerboas to kick sand backward while digging, preventing it from sliding back into their burrows.
